


Finding Comfort in the Years Between

by XRaves



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Sledding, Snow, Twilight and Wild are pretty much brothers, Wild is sad TM, Wild meets the yetis, but twi is having none of it, mmmmm soup, theyre in twilight's hyrule
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28185504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XRaves/pseuds/XRaves
Summary: After Breath of the Wild, Twilight carves out a quiet life for himself that he quite enjoys. Until Wild bursts back into his life, and his room, unexplained. Sure, it's inconvenient, but they might as well have a little fun while Wild is living in Twilight's Hyrule.
Kudos: 56





	Finding Comfort in the Years Between

The best things about owning your own rural property are the fresh air, rolling hills, mindless hard work, and of course, getting to profit from doing what you love. But if you ask Twilight, he would say the absolute best thing is the ability to be your own boss and set your own schedules. Of course, certain situations require early morning attendance, but if you hire helpers, you can virtually wake up whenever you wish. Breakfast at ten-thirty in the morning? Sure. Take an after-lunch nap? Why not. Twilight loved it. Ever since finishing his journey and later Wild’s, Twilight discovered that he genuinely just wanted to be a farmer and own his own land. And so he asked Zelda about it, hired some help from around Castletown, and managed to get enough money together to buy a piece of land in Upper Lanayru. He built his house from scratch and got a few goats, cuccos, and crops. This life had suited him well, finally feeling content with the place he had carved out for himself in his Hyrule. And so Twilight loved when he was able to take some time to himself to enjoy the ability to sleep in.

It was one of these mornings where there was nothing that required his immediate attention when a disturbance crashed into his life. And, more importantly, his room.

“Twi! Oh my Goddess, look! It’s so beautiful! Have you seen anything like it before?” Twilight heard a voice yell while he was violently shaken awake.

“Wild, wha-” 

“LOOK.” Wild grabbed Twilight’s hand and yanked him over to the large circular window that overlooked Twilight’s farm. Outside, small white flakes were falling, just starting to blanket the soil in glittery snow. Twilight laughed to himself and pulled his hand from Wild’s grasp, placing it comfortingly on his shoulder.

“It’s snow, Wild. We’ve seen it before, remember? Up on the Hebra and Lanayru Mountains,” Twilight said. Wild shook his head and pressed his hands up against the windows, bringing his face close to the cold glass. 

His voice dropped to a whisper, “It’s just been so long… Besides, it’s weird to see snow and not immediately worry about freezing to death or how it’ll impact my travel pace,” Wild paused, eyebrows softening, “I still can’t believe that there are things left in this world that are still so pure.” Twilight knew what Wild was talking about. When you’re the hero, the one expected to save everyone, it’s easy to believe that everything is evil until proven innocent. More times than he can count, Twilight’s skepticism saved his life. Unfortunately, this mindset can easily corrupt the mind into unhealthy cynicism. It took Twilight a while to recover from his journey, and he’ll be damned if he isn’t going to try to help Wild heal. He’s made his choice.

Twilight used the hand still perched on Wild’s shoulder to pat him on the back, shaking him from his thoughts. Wild stumbled forward slightly, and Twilight turned away from the window, moving to his closet.

“We’re going out. Wear something warm.”

After that, throughout the morning, Wild was trying to figure out where they were going. 

At breakfast, “So… have you checked in on Telma recently?” 

“Just saw her and Zelda in Castletown two days ago,” Twilight said, “Now, can you pass me the salt?” Wild’s shoulders drooped, and he did as he said.

Preparing the horses for their journey, “Have you talked to that Zora prince lately? Seen how he’s adjusted to the throne?”

“I don’t keep track of other cultures’ monarchies, Wild,” Twilight laughed and tossed a horseshoe at Wild. He caught it and resumed nailing new shoes to Epona’s hooves.

On the road to wherever they were going, “Any updates on the Gorons? Maybe a soak in a hot spring would be good for you to loosen up,” Wild tried again. Twilight sighed and glanced over at him.

“I know what you’re doing, and I’m not telling you where we’re going,”

“So it is the Gorons!?” Twilight laughed and shook his head slightly.

After a few minutes of silence, Wild spoke up again, “At least tell me if I’m being lead to my doom,”

“I don’t know, do you think you’re in danger?” Twilight tossed the question back to him. Wild mulled the situation over.

“Well… you have done some things in your dark past that I don’t know about, so… maybe?” He guessed and was met with another laugh and shake of the head.

Once they finally reached Zora’s Domain, Wild’s face scrunched in confusion.

“But, I thought you said we weren’t going to see the Zoras?” Wild asked.

“We’re not.” Twilight gestured to a cave that led away from the large waterfalls. He dismounted Epona and Wild quickly followed suit, both of them tying the reins to a nearby vine. They said a quick goodbye to their horses and ventured into the cave. Coming out of the other side, Wild was flabbergasted. There was so much snow that it was hard to see even a few feet in front of him. It had been a long time since he’d had to brave the elements to climb a mountain, but it came back to him fairly quickly as they ascended to the top. At the summit lay a single tree, covered in ice and under the tree were two large creatures, covered in fur as white as the snow around them. Twilight proceeded to make a move to walk up to them, and Wild grabbed his arm.

“Are you crazy? What if they’re evil?” Wild asked, concerned, but Twilight shook out of his grip and continued towards the giant creatures. He held his breath as Twilight approached them and surprisingly didn't get attacked as he talked to them. After a few minutes, they nodded, and one, the larger one, leapt out of sight and disappeared down the mountain. Twilight and the smaller creature turned to him and Twilight gestured to Wild to come closer. Wild hesitantly made his way over to them, but stayed close to Twilight’s side, just in case. On closer inspection, the giant creatures appeared to be some kind of yetis. This one, however, was much less threatening in appearance, but he had been fooled before, so he kept his guard up. 

“Wild, this is Yeta. She and her husband Yeto will be refereeing for us. He’s at the bottom of the mountain,” Twilight said and whacked the tree next to them, catching the piece of ice that fell from the branches, “Last one to the finish line has to do dishes by themselves tonight!” Then he jumped onto the piece of ice and pushed off down the mountain.  
Wild, panicked, hit the tree and leapt onto his own piece of ice, “Hang on, not even a countdown or anything?!” Yeta laughed at the boys and followed after them on her stomach.

Wild was able to catch up to Twilight reasonably quickly, but once he realized that Wild was hot on his tail, Twilight picked up the pace. Wild managed to pass him anyway, able to make himself smaller and more aerodynamic, picking up speed with ease, occasionally even throwing in a few tricks off of the low hills on the path. 

Eventually, Wild looked around to discover that Twilight is suddenly nowhere to be found. Thinking that he lost him, Wild got cocky, doing more daring tricks and even pulling off a semi-successful backflip at one point. That’s when he heard laughter from above him. Wild looked up to see Twilight on a different, more direct path.

“Even in a competition where your pride is at stake, you can’t help but show off, huh?” Wild grumbled and got back into a competitive mindset, giving it his all, not wanting to be shown up by his elder. 

“Go, Link!” A voice from behind called, and Wild was momentarily distracted to look behind and saw that Yeta was there, keeping an eye on the progress of the race. Wild rolled his eyes. Great, even the yetis were on his side, this was totally a setup. When the path merged again, Twilight dropped back down to the main track, and their ice boards knocked together slightly.

“Cheater! I didn’t know there was a shortcut!” Wild cried. They were neck and neck now, finish line coming ever closer. 

“It’s not cheating to use the terrain to my advantage,” Twilight replied. Both boys were so focused on the finish line, that they didn't notice their boards getting closer and closer together, each of them reached out towards the finish to be the first to cross. Eventually, Wild decided that he would do anything to win and his foot whacked Twilight’s board. On instinct, Twilight grabbed Wild’s tunic in an attempt to stay upright. They ended up crashing across the finish in a big pile of limbs, ice, and snow. After gathering their bearings, the boys jumped to their feet, already arguing over who won. 

Yeta slid across the line behind them, and after quick eye contact with her husband, they announced the results at the same time, “It’s a tie!” This declaration gets the boys to stop arguing for a moment. Then, after a minute of Wild looking very angry and confused, his face suddenly shifted to a smile. He started to laugh and Twilight joined in as a smile broke out over his face. The yetis joined in too, happy to have helped in cheering up a friend of Twilight’s. Wild then pulled Twilight into a hug, squeezing tight. Twilight smiled even wider, if that’s even possible, and hugged him close. Wild whispered a quiet “thank you” to Twilight and then pulled away from the hug, the huge grin still present on his face.

“Who want some of Yeto Famous Pumpkin & Cheese Soup?!” Yeto asked, gesturing to the large mansion behind him, “We go inside! Warm up! Like Hylians say.”

“You had me at soup!” Wild yelled and ran over to Yeto, who was starting to walk towards their mansion. Yeta watched them run off, and Twilight walked up to her, offering his arm like a true gentleman. She laughed and took it, starting to walk to the mansion. 

Yeta nodded her head to the pair ahead of them, “You care a lot about that one, do you?”

“How could you tell? He’s like a brother to me,” Twilight laughed, “Sometimes we’ll scream at each other, but at the end of the day, we’re always there for each other.” He couldn’t exactly tell her that Wild was his successor, that would raise more questions than he knew the answer to. Twilight still didn’t understand how or why Wild got here, but he was glad. They both have benefited tremendously from being able to relax on Twilight’s farm, not having to worry about saving the world for once. The hard work had been good for Wild, forcing him to focus on something other than his past traumas. It had taken a few months of coaxing, but Twilight had finally gotten that playful personality to come out of Wild. Much like the one that was present occasionally when they had been on Wild’s journey together. He was proud of Wild’s progress so far, and even though some days were better than others, Twilight was happy that they were able to make positive progress towards a happier Wild today.

Yeta smiled and nodded, “You take care of him for Yeta? I like that one.”

“Wouldn’t dream of anything different.”

Mission accomplished.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I've been holding this fic a secret from the world bc it's part of the Linked Universe Zine that just came out!! If you'd like to check out the whole LU Zine, send me a message and I can get you a link :D 
> 
> Art insta: @Vinxify
> 
> As always, if you leave a comment letting me know your thoughts, I will respond and love you forever <3


End file.
